


I Can't Make You Love Me

by Lupo (LupoLight)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Hinted Connor/Gavin Reed, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Songfic, Unrequited Love, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25585315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupoLight/pseuds/Lupo
Summary: Songfic based off of 'i can't make you love me' (the dave thomas version)They had been partners for seven months now. Gavin’s changed, the world’s fucking changed, and yet the time that they’ve been partners feels both so much shorter and so much longer than that. Behind him was the sounds of a party, light filtering through the curtains of the balcony. No one was outside, not with the storm, so it was honestly peaceful. A perfect place to nurse a drink that was stronger than it needed to be.Gavin laments on the dying embers of a partnership as he accepts the inevitable.
Relationships: (One-sided)Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Captain Allen/Upgraded Connor | RK900
Comments: 15
Kudos: 54





	I Can't Make You Love Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was just a real quick one hour songfic I wrote while sprinting in the Android Whump RBB server! I hope you guys enjoy it!

> _ Turn down the lights, turn down the bed. _
> 
> _ Turn down these voices inside my head. _

They had been partners for seven months now. Gavin’s changed, the world’s fucking changed, and yet the time that they’ve been partners feels both so much shorter and so much longer than that. Behind him was the sounds of a party, light filtering through the curtains of the balcony. No one was outside, not with the storm, so it was honestly peaceful. A perfect place to nurse a drink that was stronger than it needed to be.

He hummed, a familiar tune, as he tried to drown out the sounds of laughter and movement, the other music, them. Him. Nines. It felt like a threaded needle, the name sour on his lips, but in the way candy was. Pleasant, he wanted to say it, again and again. But it wasn’t his name to say. They were partners- friends even- but nothing more. Never would be more.

> _ Lay down with me, tell me no lies. _
> 
> _ Just hold me close, don't patronize- Don't patronize me. _

  
  
Nines was something else. Gutsy, mouthy, took no shit. He and Gavin fought a lot that first month, but it was nothing Gavin didn’t deserve if he was being completely honest. Nines took the worst in him and rolled with it, gave it back to him ten fold and made him laugh at himself. Made him better through his own sheer stubbornness.

And then when Gavin was weak, when he was mourning the few deviants he knew that were lost, he wasn’t called a liar. He wasn’t judged or hated for it. “Connor was the deviant hunter- you knew that, didn’t you?”

“Mhm.”

“And me… I was just his better version.”

“Was.”

“Was.”

They spent that day together, Gavin leaning on the other and describing those that were lost, while Nines explained waking up with Connor and Markus’s help.

> _ 'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't. _
> 
> _ You can't make your heart feel somethin' it won't. _

They brought up love at the end of their second month of partnership. Nines was curious, having seen Connor date, and dump, various people. And yet, as he liked to point out, Gavin didn’t seem to actively have an interest. Even Tina, though as far-out as her interest was in North, had someone.

“You can’t make your heart feel something it won’t Nines. It takes me a while to fall in love, been hurt once by that stupid emotion, not going through it again.” Nines hummed, and again, he didn’t pry. But there was a hand on his back, welcomed contact, rubbing the muscles and then gone.

“Thank you for your observations. I’ll- keep them in mind.”

> _ Here in the dark, in these final hours- _
> 
> _ I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power. _
> 
> _ But you won't, no you won't... _
> 
> _ 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't. _

Their third month in, Gavin got drunk for the first time. It was a rough case, and in the end, they were too late, the kids and their mother, a kind AX400, all gone. Just gone, leaving nothing but a haunting mess behind. Despite having caught the guy that day, it wasn’t quick enough to stop the mess of purple him and Nines had to sort through.

He went to the bar that night, downing vodka like dehydrated football playing with his sports drink, not sure of where his limit or his goal was. He just wanted to forget the sight of purple. The look of pain on Nines’ face, the grief in the neighbor’s voices. The grief in the wife’s, who was at work, and lost everything. He couldn’t handle it alone and like hell was he taking anyone home.

Then a hand on his back, familiar, comforting. “That’s enough, Gavin.” He looked up, three sets of Nines’ turning into one, golden on his temple and worry etched deep into that beautiful face. He was led home by strong hands, helped into his apartment and Gavin could hear him feed the cats while he got into sleep wear. Then Nines tried to leave, and Gavin felt weak. Alone. Scared the memories would come back without his partner there.

He knew not to be alone with vodka in his system. “Nines- please- stay the night? Just in case- ya know-”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence. An arm wrapped around him and led him to the couch, and they half sat and half laid, no words between them. Nines held him like he was  _ worth _ being held, like he  _ cared _ , and even if it was just friendship, he felt so much warmth from that alone.   
  
He should have  _ ran _ .

> _ I'll close my eyes, then I won't see- _
> 
> _ The love you don't feel when you're holdin' me. _
> 
> _ Mornin' will come and I'll do what's right... _
> 
> _ Just give me till then to give up this fight. _

  
  
Waking up that morning was wonderful and painful. He knew what he did was beyond the limits of friendship, cursed with the lack of hangovers or memory loss others were lucky to get. But Nines said nothing, just helping Gavin get ready, and only when he could did Gavin talk about * _ why _ * he got drunk.

And Nines was there, admitting he wanted to relieve some tension too. He met up with Allen after work, the two of them sparring, and Gavin grinned, picking on him for his new friend.

But then it kept happening. Nines was kind, gentle, funny, strict, firm- he was what he wanted to be, confident and independent. Entirely wonderful, and the best partner Gavin could’ve ever hoped for. And he realized, five months in, that his heart and his mind wanted more. He wanted more.

He wanted to be held like that again- like someone gave a damn about him. He knew Nines did, but not in the way Gavin cared. Not in the way Gavin pushed Nines out of the way of a falling steel beam, spraining his ankle. Not in the way Gavin would stare at Nines.

He found ways to get him to come over, stay the night, play some video games or watch some movies. He got the other to laugh, to kick his ass in some games, and remain utterly confused and completely frustrated in others. They even had a night with all of them; Nines, Connor, Allen, Tina, Chris, Hank, and Gavin- just playing shit like Disturbed Friends and Uno.

And some nights, some nights, Gavin would lean on his shoulder. Nines would smile, and Gavin would close his eyes and grin. Pretend there was something there in the dark hours of the night that would never exist to see the sun. He was too afraid of ruining what he had. That, and…

> _ And I will give up this fight. _

Nines loved someone else. It was obvious, after that first meeting, Allen and him kept meeting. Again, and again, until the two met daily in the precinct. No longer would Nines meet him in the breakroom during their lunch break. Instead he went up the elevator, and didn’t come back until he had to.

And really, Gavin didn’t blame him. Allen was sweet, a good guy, strong, capable- as far as Gavin knew, flawless and golden when compared to him. He was amazing, and even Gavin crushed on him at some point. But now, he would look over, see Allen and Nines flirting, the red on Allen’s face, or the blue on Nines’, the two exchange banter and quips as naturally as Gavin and Nines did.

But Nines loved him, and Gavin was just his friend. And instead of hating him for that, Gavin knew what he should- what he wanted to do. He wanted to help Nines, because Nines was so good to him. When Nines asked for date ideas, he helped him brainstorm. When Nines asked for fashion advice, he directed him to Tina, and even helped pay for the first shopping spree.

When Nines confessed to Gavin that he finally got laid, Gavin clapped him on the back, smiling despite the way it felt like someone was choking him. “‘Bout fucking time. Congrats dipshit.”

> _ 'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't. _
> 
> _ You can't make your heart feel somethin' it won't. _

Nines deserved Allen, someone so perfect for the best person in his life. He spent his breaks alone, with Tina, like he always had. He didn’t blink when Nines started helping with SWAT missions instead of cases. Didn’t hold him back when Nines considered transferring. “Damn, I’ll miss my partner but if you want it, go for it. You’d do good anywhere.”

And the smile he got, the thankful, endearing smile he didn’t deserve. Not while it felt like a void opening in his chest, making him so cold and breathless. “Thank you Gavin. I think- I think I’m going to go for it. I’ll tell you how it goes.” A soft punch to his shoulder, and a grin. “You’re the best- for a trash panda.”

No- that was the first day he cried, not turning to his normal routes, but just letting himself cry.

> _ Here in the dark, in these final hours- _
> 
> _ I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power. _
> 
> _ But you won't, no you won't... _

He opened his eyes, back at the party, the party for Nines making it to SWAT. Tina was hosting it, her place big enough and everyone was behind him, having fun. Gavin should be there too, be a good friend, be a good partner- or, rather, ex-partner. He should be there, but instead he was on a balcony, vodka and sprite in his cup, burning his throat while tears burned his eyes.

His humming and breaths were lost to the wind and the rain, but he was sure he could hear the hiccup as he sung the song lowly, finishing the last lyrics and wiping at his face. “'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't…”

> _ Don’t even try… Don’t even try… Don’t even try… _

  
  
Gavin finished his drink, slicking back his hair with the rainwater and stepping away from the balcony, turning for the warmth of the party. Only to face a familiar face- so similar but not the same. “You- have a beautiful singing voice.”

“Shit, you heard all that Connor?” He smiled, not even trying to hide the sadness in it.

“I think I’ve been the only one to hear it this whole time. Come in with me?”

> _ Don’t even try… Don’t even try… Don’t even try… _

He wasn’t sure what he had left to give, but warmth was warmth, and Connor’s hand was only slightly lower than Nines’. 


End file.
